Votes of GOP lawmakers who missed swearing-in ruled invalid

By
Felicia Sonmez

The votes cast during the first days of the congressional session by two Republican lawmakers who skipped Wednesday's swearing-in ceremony will be invalidated, House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-Calif.) said Thursday.

Dreier made the announcement at a meeting of the Rules Committee after it became clear that Reps. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) and Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) had cast votes during the first two days of the 112th Congress despite having not technically been sworn into office.

According to a report in The Hill, GOP leaders became aware that Sessions and Fitzpatrick had missed Wednesday's swearing-in after a photo surfaced of the two lawmakers reciting the oath in front of a television screen at the Capitol Visitors Center.

"Yesterday, at the time the oath of office was administered, Congressman Fitzpatrick was in the Capitol Building meeting with constituents from Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District," Fitzpatrick spokesperson Darren Smith said. "He took the oath of office at that time. When the oath was administered, Congressman Fitzpatrick had already signed the written oath of office provided by the Clerk of the House. Today, after speaking with the House Parliamentarian, out of an abundance of caution, Congressman Fitzpatrick was re-administered the oath of office by the Speaker. The public record will be adjusted accordingly."

A spokesperson for Sessions confirmed that the congressman took the oath on the floor Thursday.

Fitzpatrick told the Bucks County Courier Times, which was present when he and Sessions were meeting with supporters during the swearing-in, that their televised "oath-taking" was an impromptu one.

"That wasn't planned," Fitzpatrick said. "It just worked out that way."

Democrats seized on the incident as evidence that Republicans "can't get their house in order."

"When Congressmen-elect Pete Sessions and Mike Fitzpatrick participated in reading parts of the U.S. Constitution on the House floor, Speaker Boehner should have given them Article 6 which requires Members of Congress to be sworn in," Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Jennifer Crider said. "Republicans have spent a lot of time over the past two days proselytizing about House rules, but they don't seem very keen on actually following the rules."

“The Senators and Representatives…shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution;”

Both Representative Pete Sessions and Representative Mike Fitzpatrick were former Representatives and had previously sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution and both Representatives were seen reaffirming that oath in the Capital Visitors Center.

No where in the Constitution does it lay out the time, place or manner of the Oath or Affirmation to support the Constitution except that it must be done before taking office. Indeed, when the Speaker of the House did the group swearing in, it was impossible for the Speaker to discern if every individual member actually swore the oath.

The rules of the House for the 112th Congress were determined after the swearing in, so they can’t prescribe the time, place or manner of the oath of office. The previous oaths of office or the oaths taken in the Capital Visitors Center are constitutionally sufficient.

Which brings us to the nullification of their votes after the fact.

House Resolution 27 states:

“Whereas, Representative-elect Sessions and Representative-elect Fitzpatrick were not administered the oath of office pursuant to the third clause in article VI of the Constitution until after the completion of legislative business on January 6, 2011; and
Whereas, the votes cast by Representative-elect Sessions and Representative-elect Fitzpatrick on rollcalls 3 through 8 therefore were nullities: Now, therefore, be it

• Resolved, That--

(1) the votes recorded for Representative-elect Sessions and Representative-elect Fitzpatrick on rollcalls 3 through 8 be deleted and the vote-totals for each of those rollcalls be adjusted accordingly, both in the Journal and in the Congressional Record;”

While the House and Senate can make their own rules, voiding votes of duly elected Members by resolution in not one of the rules. If they can do it in this case, then why not nullify votes you don’t like to achieve a 2/3 majority to override a presidential veto?

a. I find it deeply troubling that our current House of Representatives seems to have not only made up a time, place and manner restriction for the oath of office that doesn’t exist, but has nullified votes of it’s own Members.

What a waste of time and money, as you chase fund raising for yourself or your friend!

What a foolish act of disrespect!

You talk urgency, yet you do not act with urgency, your lack of responsibility and improper missing proper actions TO SHOW UP, I would expect from Obama, not one of the main conservative leaders of the Congress.

What arrogance, that is what we voted out in November.

Sorry you did not get the memo, or you just do not get it.

Your former employer AT&T/ Southwestern Bell would never have tolerated such an act, you were trained better.

Rep. Henserling and Rep. DeMint never would have pulled such a stunt. If you are going to run with the big dogs, act like one.

Your arrogant and selfish behavior is not the new program that started on the first day of this new Congress and you were AWOL, and not excusable!

Stop embarrassing us as a party, as a state, and as a district. I have voted for you every time, since I came back to Dallas in 1996.

If they had crossed the fingers of their left hands behind their back would they be able to vote? The way the Congress seems to go against the "will of the people" without guilty consciences it seems they must have.

If they had crossed the fingers of their left hands behind their back would they be able to vote? The way the Congress seems to go against the "will of the people" without guilty consciences it seems they must have.

So it begins. Republicans begin their rule by reading an abbreviated version of the constituttion and most leave before the reading is completed. Then we learn that all the votes Republicans took the first day was unconstitutional because two Republicans couldn't bother showing up to take the oath of office,.
Got to love it. It's like a bad reality show.

So it begins. Republicans begin their rule by reading an abbreviated version of the constituttion and most leave before the reading is completed. Then we learn that all the votes Republicans took the first day was unconstitutional because two Republicans couldn't bother showing up to take the oath of office,.
Got to love it. It's like a bad reality show.

So it begins. Republicans begin their rule by reading an abbreviated version of the constituttion and most leave before the reading is completed. Then we learn that all the votes Republicans took the first day was unconstitutional because two Republicans couldn't bother showing up to take the oath of office,.
Got to love it. It's like a bad reality show.

Here again the hypocrites are abundant. They talk a good game about law and order and the Constitution but the standards they espouse must be observed by others but not themselves. It is imperative that we have intelligent and honest Representatives in order to make progress. Imagine that the CBO was widely recognized as being non-political but in order to suit their purposes Republicans are calling their estimates of the cost of repealing health care inaccurate. If it had gone the other way they would have been commended for their efficiency. How can we respect Boehner et al ?

One can't blame them for thinking that anything is ten times as official if it occurs on TV. Everything politicians do nowadays revolves around TV anyhow. So why should this be any different? It might look a bit unseemly, but hey, this is the modern age.

Yeap. In fact, did you know that Currently, many insurance companies do not allow adult children to remain on their parents' plan once they reach 19. Companies cannot do that any more. Search onilne for "Wise Health Insurance" and you can insure your kids if you are in the same boat.

"The bigger travesty is they missed the swearing in so they could attend a fundraiser
Posted by: merrylees"

There is no evidence of that. There is, however, evidence that Martha Coakley, who represented the 60th vote for passing the Democrats' health care reform, skipped the final weekend of campaigning to attend a fundraiser with lobbyists for Big Pharma and health insurers. She didn't get the vote, but the Democrats were able to twist enough arms to pass some version of HCR to benefit the pharmaceutical and health insurance lobby that has GIVEN MORE TO DEMOCRATS THAN TO REPUBLICANS IN THE 2010 CYCLE!

Good for the Republican House to hold these Representatives accountable. The Democrat Senate used to schedule votes around the late Sen. Byrd's bed time. It shows the difference between the two parties and their respect for tradition and rule of law.

Bonehead Boehnner is often seen with one of his crying jags after his martini lunches. I remember a press conference a year ago right after lunch where the tears were flowing. Apparently the GOP will operate exactly like they did under Bush, Reagan, Nixon. Anything illegal the can get away with, they will. And Issa, hoping to be the Prez someday is trying to delegitimize Obama by claiming his Presidency is the most corrupt. This from a hypocrite who never opened his mouth while Cheney was giving his company billions of dollars, some for electrocuting our soldier sons while they were showering. Not one G.D.Republican or Issa ever investigated or opened their cowardly mouths. Most of them can't even spell Constitution. fritz

Democrat DeFazio also missed his swearing-in, not even bothering to tell anyone he was going to be out-of-town, so he wasted people's time while they searched for him, called him and emailed him to find out why he was missing. Is the poster who thought the Republicans were stupid similarly disposed to think the same of DeFazio?

The senators from Oregon sent personal representatives, but he knew that face-time at a public meeting about a veterans' hospital was a better self-promotion than being one of a group taking an oath. He stated that listening to veterans' concerns was more important than taking a ceremonial oath. If he hasn't heard their concerns since being in office since 1987, what has he been doing with his time?

This just shows how much the GOP cares about the Constitution. They violated it. Then Speaker Beohner swears them in the next day while the Speaker was under the influence. Boehner slurred his words after attending a fundraiser where according to reports he had 5 glasses of wine and a shot of rum. And then botched the Oath.
John Boehner needs to resign as Speaker. In his first days he allows violations of the Constitution and then gives the oath of office while he himself is under the influence.
He is a complete embarassment to this country and the people he represents should be up in arms.

The two Representative should had stop what they doing and follow the rules instead of not following the rule. Now they have to do the oath when they should had done it on Wednesday. Good work Republicans with keeping your party together.

The two Representative should had stop what they doing and follow the rules instead of not following the rule. Now they have to do the oath when they should had done it on Wednesday. Good work Republicans with keeping your party together.

The two Representative should had stop what they doing and follow the rules instead of not following the rule. Now they have to do the oath when they should had done it on Wednesday. Good work Republicans with keeping your party together.

The two Representative should had stop what they doing and follow the rules instead of not following the rule. Now they have to do the oath when they should had done it on Wednesday. Good work Republicans with keeping your party together.

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